GeoSciMeg

The Greenland Ice Sheet has experienced an increase in melting since the early 1990s due to global climate change especially from atmospheric warming. This melting has huge implication for sea level rise. Therefore, if we can better understand surface melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet we can quantify the impact on sea level rise in the future. For climate change mitigation and the safety of our planet it is essential we act now. This was the motivation for the research Andrew Tedstone from the University of Bristol explained in a recent seminar I attended. Andrew works as part of a team named BLACK and BLOOM and their focus is to understand how dark particles and microbes can darken the Greenland Ice Sheet (Figure 1) and potentially accelerate surface melting. Figure 1: Location of Greenland and the two field sites, (Google Maps and Satellite). MOTIVATION Note : Albedo – Albedo is the measure of reflected radiation from the sun. In light areas more radiation i...

The Indian Monsoon is an important and powerful meteorological phenomena that ensues over June to September every year. The monsoon triggers changes to precipitation and wind patterns that lead to significant social, environmental and economic effects over South Asia (Figure 1). Despite being very well researched the Indian monsoon processes are not well understood and very difficult to predict. The monsoon precipitation is notoriously variable with drastic flooding or severe droughts possible with too much or too little precipitation. Millions of people are affected by the monsoon and rely on it for agricultural produce and freshwater. The monsoon can change the social and economic status of the area dramatically with a good or bad year. To protect the people and their environment it is so important to try and understand the complex process and patterns of the Indian Monsoon especially as climate change threatens to add yet more intricacy.  Figure 1: Location of the Indian M...

As technology advances so to does our understanding of the planet. Penny How perfectly demonstrated this at a seminar I recently attended all about her PhD thesis.  Aims Using time-lapse photography Penny aimed to better understand the methods of dynamic alteration at the terminus of two tidewater glaciers (Fig 1). Figure 1 : Example of a Tidewater Glacier, Kronebreen in Svalbard, (Penny How's Blog) Note: Tidewater Glacier - Glaciers that flow into the ocean. Why So, why is it important to understand glacier processes? Climate change or more specifically global warming leads to ice loss from glaciers and this impacts global sea level rise. However, there is still a limited understanding of how glacial change will affect sea level rise especially within different emission scenarios. There are two main ways in which ice transfers from glacier to ocean: 1) High temperatures promote glacier melting and surface melt channels funnel water into the oceans. Melt...